Hi Luke,

              I called it tonight.  We had low numbers so I tested it during the interval with some volunteers as a Four Couple Dance.  At the end of the Partner Swing we just faced back to the same line.  Or changed it from Head Lines to Side Lines if we wanted different people to go through the arches.

 

              I wanted all the Box the Gnats at the same time, so I did Balance & Box the Gnat.  They may have been very slightly late getting through the tunnel, so, to avoid the possibility of the Balance being late or random, I changed the Balance & Swing to Dosido & Swing which worked fine.

 

              I indicated who should go through the tunnel first via a geographic reference: pick a feature of the room and let people know that you are going to use it.  I called “Window People Tunnel” – that worked well.

 

              We had lots of room, so the first swing tended to end up with the set as a square, which meant that the four steps into the middle were fine, but with less room the “Head Couples” might not have very far to travel, but I don’t think it would be a problem.

 

              The dancers said that they liked it.  I will definitely use it again.

 

              Does it have a name?

 

              Thanks.

 

            Happy dancing,                         

                   John                                  

                                   

John Sweeney, Dancer, England   john@modernjive.com 01233 625 362 & 07802 940 574                         

http://www.modernjive.com for Modern Jive Events & DVDs                               

http://www.contrafusion.co.uk for Dancing in Kent                                         

 

From: Callers <callers-bounces@lists.sharedweight.net> On Behalf Of Luke Donforth via Callers
Sent: 02 August 2018 19:36
To: callers@lists.sharedweight.net
Subject: [Callers] New 4x4 composition with a tunnel, and related questions

 

Hello all, 

 

I've had an idea for a 4 facing 4 dance rattling around, and it seems unlikely I'll have enough dancers to house-party it anytime soon, so I'd appreciate feedback on an untested dance.

 

4 facing 4 contra

A1

(4) Lines of 4 go forward, take right hand with the one in front of you

(4) box the gnat, keep and lift right hand to make a tunnel

(4) couple at stage right side of line of couples duck through to far side

(4) couple that was at stage left side of line of couples duck through to far side

A2

(16) Initial corner balance and swing 

(end couples, it's the one they tunneled with, middle folks it's their trail buddy)

B1

(4) All 8 go into the middle

(4) On the way out, gents roll the one they swung with away with a half sashay

(8) Gents right hand star ~1x (ladies adjust position as needed, stepping a little to left)

B2

(16) Partner balance and swing, end facing new couple

 

Questions for those so inclined:

Would you be interested in dancing and/or calling this dance? Why, or why not?

 

The inspiration for the tunnel came from "plow the row", a (to my knowledge) traditional square (at least, it's traditional enough to have lots of variations). Anyone know of a tunnel figure in a 4x4 contra?

 

In the B1, I wrote it as the gents roll the ladies, and the gents star. It could instead be the ladies roll the gents and ladies star. Preferences?

 

There are two places where what would normally be "balance+move" have been replaced with "in to the middle+move"; is the four steps forward before the box the gnat and the roll away going to throw folks?

 

How would you prompt the couples on the end going through the tunnel so that there's only one couple in the tunnel at a time? Or would you prompt it as both going through and let them figure it out inside the tunnel?

 

Thanks for feedback.

 

--

Luke Donforth
Luke.Donforth@gmail.com

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